Extract of a journal entry, reproduced within Conspiracy Theories of History
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They live among us! They’re all about, I tell you.
I have lived with this secret too long, I record it here in my journal in the hopes that one day another may find it and be exposed to the truth as well.
You wont believe me, I know. I was mocked and ridiculed, but you must open your mind, open your eyes. Look at the world and see. The world is wrapped in a spell, an enchantment, an illusion, and you must see. The magi and the nobles, they do not wish you to see what is in front of you, but you must see. You can see, simply by looking around you.
It is plainly written in the world, from the earliest points of history, the story you all know.
When the gods first created the cosmos, laying down the firmament and filling it with life, they brought forth the multitude of the True Races. These were the elves, the dwarves, the avior, the humans, the giants and dragons, the ruxsi and the johta, the creal and the esgerath. From the highest mountains to the depths of the ocean, to deepest underground, the ten races were sent forth and lived across the entire world.
To each of them was given a gift, by the god who made them.
The elves were given the gift of adaptability, of self-control. All the lands of the cosmos would welcome them, and they would be one with the lands around them.
The dwarves were given the gift of creation, of crafting. Their workings would be solid and masterful, craftsmen beyond compare.
The avior were given the gift of order, of cooperation. Their civilization would be harmonious and efficient, each member of the flock perfectly contributing to the whole.
The humans were given the gift of freedom, of self-determination. Nothing would constrain the spirit of humanity, and they would transcend all limits upon them, unbindable and uncontainable.
The giants were given the gift of sight, of prophesy. Their visions would be beyond the mere physical as they saw from their great height the shape of things yet to come.
The dragons were given the gift of life, of growth. Unlike the petty humanoids they shared the world with, dragons would never cease to grow, never grow weaker or feeble with age.
The ruxsi were given the gift of patience, of time. They were here the longest, and could wait an eternity for their opportune moments if needed.
The johta were given the gift of strength, of war. They were the mightiest of all, with power beyond compare constrained within their bodies.
The creal were given the gift of nature, of harmony. They were to commune with the lands themselves, one with the trees and vines that their bodies were comprised of and empowered by.
The esgerath were given the gift of magic, of sorcery. They all possessed incredible might with the sorcerous and arcane, with a grasp upon the Tapestry never seen since.
But there were no halflings, no gnomes, no goblins, none of the companion races we have grown to know these days! And why, you ask? Where were the false races in these early days, then, if they were ‘created’ alongside all the other progenitors?
They came later.
Not the story they would tell you but it's the truth.
The god of secrets was jealous of the civilizations the other gods had made with their races. Of the dwarves in their citadels of stone, the humans changing the lands to suit them, the elves with their graceful buildings in the boughs of great trees. And so the nameless god created the caduk.
The caduk were given the gift of secrecy, of infiltration. They could change their bodies however they pleased, and had a grasp upon illusions and shadows they could use to mimic the magics of any of those they sought to infiltrate. They would escape notice by forever changing their bodies, such that no magic could expose their lie. A sacrifice readily made, and one which that made them the greatest infiltrators of all the cosmos.
For infiltrate they did.
The humans were the first to fall, as the ‘harmless’ halflings arrived in their villages, at first disguised as children. For you see, the one failing of the caduk was their stature. No more than half the height of a man at their tallest, they were wholly incapable of truly becoming one with the societies they sought to undermine. So the halflings first presented themselves as children, to disguise their stature.
They even sought to mimic the freedom of humanity! As a divinely-granted gift, they failed for not the last time, but they managed to twist their false magics of deception into an innate brand of luck magic they carry with them to this very day, all a mocking facsimile of humanity’s unbound and limitless potential.
This is what they did for all of our races in some way or another. A broken and distorted reflection of our blessed races but not a true one.
If this isn't true then ask yourself why else would the halflings be so similar to humanity but yet so different? Think about it and the answer becomes obvious.
I'm not here to tell you what to believe but rather to open your mind.
If that isn't enough for the more stubborn amongst you, listen here.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Humanity were not the only ones infiltrated.
No, not at all.
Next were the dwarves, already susceptible to infiltration due to their short stature, found themselves inundated by gnomes. Incapable of replicating the wonderful craftswork of their targets, they instead worked to learn the ways in which they could build differently, and became masters of complex and tinkering technology, creating new metals and intricate devices absent of the soul of a craftsman yet ‘impressive’ enough for them to weasel their way into dwarf society.
The adaptability of the elves proved problematic to the caduk for a short while, yet they too fell as their own brand of gnomes came to dwell among them through mundane infiltration. These caduk kept much of their illusionary prowess, and their bodies settled into coloration changes. They even managed to attain a fraction of the elves’ immortality, yet while the elves longevity was based around becoming static, the immortality of the gnomes became based on constant change, particularly of mind.
The gnomes of the dwarves and the gnomes of the elves, of course, eventually collapsed into the species we know as the gnomes of today, having absconded with the craftswork of the dwarves and the immortality and attunement of the elves.
Does this not prove my point? What else but twisted magic could make such a race that blends not one, but two, elder races together?
The avior, with their incredible dimorphism, never even noticed as the quotians entered their society, despite their capability for mimicry alone, losing the ability for innovation as their magic sabotaged their own voices as it imposed ‘order’ to fit in best with the avior around them. However, they retain their ancestral affinity for shadow and darkness magic, many of them even keeping complete shapeshifting ability.
The caduk attempting to mimic dragons split in twain which serves them right!. Some became the first pseudodragons, copying the shape of their target while being incapable of anything else their superior targets possessed such as the glorious magics dragons are famous for.
Does that not make you wonder why? Humm. Think about it and you can see for yourself what I say makes sense.
Others became the kobolds, only paying tangential respect to the shape of the dragons, but their magic became more focused upon the draconic form, infiltrating the magnificent dragons through supplication rather than subterfuge, a position they remain in to this very day as such mimicry of natural creatures deserve.
If you called me crazy when you started reading you must now admit I have facts and logic on my side do you not?
Those seeking to infiltrate the ruxsi failed utterly, and became the degenerate race of wetlands known as the boggard. Even the caduk’s endless patience was insufficient next to the eternity which the ruxsi could preserve themselves, their attempts to ingratiate themselves never proceeding over generations like so many others managed.
A similar failure befell those seeking to become one with the esgerath. The ancient serpentfolk’s command of magic brooked no impostors, and what caduk attempted to broach their enclaves found themselves enslaved, their bodies twisted into the serpentine forms of protection and magic we know as naga reduced to little more than dogs for their insolence.
But not every race was so fortunate or prepared.
The johta were the most complete to fall. Despite being wholly outclassed within the realm of strength, the caduk simply overwhelmed the johta with sheer numbers, cleverness, and wits to steer and control the savage creatures of war. Eventually, the johta and caduk interbred, giving rise to the orcs and the various species of goblins, combinations of traits between the johta and caduk. Orcs took the strength of the johta and little from the caduk. Hobgoblins took the strength of the johta and the numbers and organization of the caduk. Bugbears, the malice, stealth, and intelligence of the caduk. And lastly the common goblin, which took the numbers and intelligence of the caduk yet little of the johta’s strength.
Weep for our fallen brethren for they lost what the God’s gave them and have been dragged into the mud.
For those that doubt my words saying those races have nothing to do with each other then ask yourself two questions.
Why can each of those races breed together? And secondly why can those races have throwback births that all seem similar and possess great strength and intelligence unlike both of their brethren? That is because they all came from the same source and the God’s chosen children are tenacious even if utter defeat, unwilling to give up even after so many generations.
The last of the races to be infiltrated, and arguably have yet to, are the giants. Were I to have pity for any of the caduk (though I do not), it would be for the diminutive shapeshifters who attempted to blend in with the peoples whose defining characteristic is their truly incredible size. Unsurprisingly, a being the size of a halfling was wholly incapable of disguising itself as even an infant of the smallest giant, yet it did not stop them from trying. They became the first trolls, as their body and mind sought to transform them into a ‘greater’ form continuously, incidentally granting them all but complete immunity to injury. However, the ravenous hunger that accompanied this twentyfold increase in size drove them utterly insane, a condition which never left the species.
The remaining caduk fled into the dark corners of the world, where they became the doppelgangers, the darkfolk, and the other body snatchers of the night for what else could make such foul creatures but the spawn of the god of secrets.
For now, you see. The true depths of the false ones. They have come for us, they seek to live among us. For generations, they have positioned themselves in every civilization, waiting for their time to strike.
Do not give up vigilance! The nobles, the magi, they will dissuade you! They will call me mad! They will dismiss the evidence, they will call things what they are not, you must stay true! They aren’t all in on it, but enough of them are.
Stay vigilant!
Do not fall for their lies!
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Compiler’s note: While the ‘ten species’ theory does have some small merit behind it, it originated in a time when half of the species currently said to be the ‘True Races’ were unknown, and the remaining one were the so called ‘false races.’ That said, a version of it does still survive in some scholarly circles to date, in no small part thanks to modern ancestral divinations indicating that the multitude of distinct civilized species did all branch from a handful of Progenitor species in the distant past, with bloodlines, crossbreeding, and similar effects branching the tree of life into the numerous species alive today.
Contrary to the claims of this ‘revelation,’ halflings, gnomes, goblins, trolls, and so forth have given no sign of sharing any ancestor in common, but do all share ties to their ‘associated’ species (the exception being gnomes, of course, having ties to both dwarves and elves). The theory of the ‘secret race’ is widely mocked by scholars whenever it appears, yet has never been firmly stamped out despite that.
This specific permutation of Secret Race Theory even manages to get some aspects of Progenitor theory incorrect, as (among others) it claims that elves were giving the gift of adaptability, despite the generally-agreed-upon stance being that elves were given the gift of Perfection, a trait sadly lost to the Savage Elves as they broke off from High Elves.